


Weddings and Ex-Wives

by annaliesegrace



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 18:19:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8678017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annaliesegrace/pseuds/annaliesegrace
Summary: Mike and Ginny attend Rachel's wedding.





	

**Author's Note:**

> amnesiacandstubbles had this fabulous post on Tumblr and I had to write it (with thier permission, of course):  
>  _mike getting invited to rachel’s wedding, and ginny volunteering herself to be his plus one (’well you went through a very awkward mom and daughter’s dinner so it’s the less i can do, old man’). ginny realizing that she likes to hang out with mike, no matter if it’s in a wedding where she knows no one or in the field waiting for mike to say the play. mike taking every chance to touch ginny; holding her hand while leading her to the dancefloor, his hand on her back and her face only inches away while dancing. ginny being a brat and mocking rachel’s parents after they treat mike like shit. mike realizing that the most beautiful woman in the room, the one for him, it’s not the one marrying, it’s the one standing next to him. mike offering his jacket and driving ginny home. ginny saying i am sorry and mike answering don’t be, i am not. ginny saying goodbye and kissing him on his cheek. ginny turning away and not hearing mike saying maybe we should do this another time._

 

“She what?!” Blip’s exclamation was so loud Mike visibly flinched and pulled his teammate into the nearest empty hallway so the rest of the damn team didn’t hear. Before he could could get a word in, however, the other man’s tirade continued, “I mean, she cannot be for real, right? That’s _insane_ , man. Who invites their ex-husband to their wedding?!”

“Apparently, my ex-wife,” Mike deadpanned and sighed, running his hand through his beard, a sure sign of stress.

“Well, it’s ridiculous. Why?”

“She thinks that it will help me get ‘closure.’” Mike put finger quotes around the “closure” part since he wasn’t all that convinced it was Rachel’s only motivation.

“When’s the wedding again?”

“Week before Christmas.”

Blip frowned. “It’s September.”

“Yes, thank you, I am aware seeing how we are four games back of the wildcard. Anything other observations, Yoda?”

“Are you going?”

Mike started to answer but a female voice rang out behind him first. “Going where?”

He groaned.

“Rachel’s wedding.” Blip answered for him and Mike sent him a sharp look – Ginny did not need to be involved with this.

Ginny moved to stand next to them and looked between the men trying to decide if they were serious. “For real?”

“For real,” Blip hissed lowly.

Ginny frowned. “Wow, that’s…not cool.”

Mike finally looked at her. “She thinks I need closure.”

“You probably do,” she said thoughtfully. “But I’m not sure attending her wedding is the way to go.”

Mike was suddenly feeling ganged up on. “You know, I didn’t say I was going.”

“You didn’t say you weren’t.” Blip observed.

“Well, with the two of you I can barely get a word in edgewise.”

Ginny cocked her head at him. “So are you? Going?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I should, maybe I _would_ get closure. I mean, seeing your ex-wife marry another man is one way to close the door on a relationship.”

“Well,” she said. “If you need a date…”

Mike looked at her, amused. “You volunteering?”

“Sure, why not,” she shrugged, then winked at him, “I’m great with ex-wives.”

Before he could respond, Ginny walked away toward her locker room without even a glance back.

Mike watched her go, eyes trailing over her very young, very firm body. “Somehow I seriously doubt that.”

Blip smacked him.

 

* * *

 

Locker clean out day was the worst, partly because that meant the season was over (and in their case, without even making the playoffs) but also because everyone knew that there would be trades in the off season and the guy next to you might be gone. Baseball was a strange brotherhood. He would see some of the guys in the off season if they chose to hang around, but who knew if they would be in spring training come February. As usual, Mike Lawson was the last guy out the door, he’d clapped every teammate on the back and made plans with Blip for the next weekend.

Stuffing the last compression shirt into his bag, Mike turned to find Ginny standing there, staring at him pensively.

“Sup, Rookie?” he asked and slung the bag over his shoulder.

“Last man out, eh?”

“Always,” he said and looked around the room wistfully. Who knew if _he_ would even be back, Livan had made good progress in the last few weeks he had been in San Diego.

They walked out together, passing the offices, training room and lunchroom, all dead silent before stopping near Mike’s car, Ginny was still living at the hotel right next to the stadium and often preferred to walk back.

“You ever gonna get a real apartment?” he asked while tossing the bag into the passenger seat of the sports car.

She shrugged. “Yeah, probably in the off season. It’s looking like I’m not going back down. As of now anyway.”

“Good,” he said emphatically. “You need a ride?”

“I’m not eighty, old man. I can walk a half mile.” There was a long silence then, “You decide about the exes wedding yet?”

Mike blew out a breath and leaned against the car. “I’m thinking about it.”

“I’m still willing to go, if you want. For support.” She looked down at the concrete, nervous. “I mean, I don’t want to invite myself if you’d rather take…someone else. But you know, you suffered through an awkward family dinner, it only seems fair.”

He grinned at her. “All right. So whatcha doing the Saturday before Christmas?”

“Apparently, I’m going to a wedding,” she quipped and frowned slightly. “Is there an open bar?”

Mike winked at her. “Why do you think I’m going?”

Ginny laughed and started to walk toward her hotel before his voice called out one more time, “It’s black tie, by the way!”

 

* * *

 

 

“I cannot believe you agreed to do this!” Evelyn said even as she fussed with Ginny’s hair. Ginny was sitting in the Saunders master bathroom, Evelyn hovering over her trying desperately to get Ginny’s unruly curls to behave, if there was one thing she regretted missing out on as a teenager it was the ability to do her own hair and makeup for events that required it. You don’t pick up skills when your hair is either always in a ponytail or under a hat, much less having time to fuss with makeup.

Ginny shrugged. “I offered first.”

“Man should’ve had the sense to tell you no. C’mon, you are going to Mike Lawson’s ex-wife’s wedding with him.” Evelyn paused and looked at Ginny in the mirror. “Oh my god, I wish I could be there when she sees you. Sure Mike didn’t tell her who he was bringing?”

“That’s what he said.”

Evelyn cackled, actually cackled. “Good, serves her right.”

Ginny shifted in the chair, Mike was due to pick her up in an hour, they’d decided it was far less public for him to pick her up at Blip and Evelyn’s.

Finally, Evelyn frowned and pulled the top half of Ginnys hair back, clipping it with a sparkly barrette, letting some hairs fall out to frame her face. Seemingly satisfied with her efforts, Evelyn went to work on her makeup, applying it thicker than she had for the Nike party, giving her a muted smoky eye, rose color blush and a nude lip. Ginny watched her carefully in the mirror, trying to pick up some tips.

The dress she’d bought the week before hung on the bathroom door and when Ginny caught sight of it in the mirror, nervousness settled in her stomach.

“Are you sure the dress isn’t…too much?”

Evelyn glanced back at the emerald dress. “Nope. Evening wedding, black tie. Your gonna look…gorgeous.”

Ginny nodded but the nervousness didn’t abate and she wondered if it wasn’t just because of the dress but because who she was going with. This was going to be a fairly intimate evening for them, she didn’t know anyone but Mike and while she was able to handle herself in a crowd, this was on another level. Eventually it would get out to the press that Mike Lawson had attended his ex-wife’s wedding with Ginny Baker as his plus one. The nervousness changed to butterflies and she frowned a little at the thrill she got from the idea of the press linking them together. Writing it off as leftover from her girl-hood crush Ginny mentally shook her head and focused back on Evie.

“Alright girl,” Evelyn said and stood back to admire her work, nodding. “Let’s get you into that vision of silk and lace.”

 

Mike pulled up to the Saunders house at exactly 5:30 pm; he had made a concerted effort to time everything so they would arrive at the hotel just in time for the ceremony (Rachel had helpfully decided to have the ceremony in the same place as the reception), thereby hopefully avoiding any pre-wedding mingling with people he knew and would certainly question his presence.

Once he’d pressed the doorbell, Mike adjust his cufflinks and tie, he hated the damn monkey suits, but of course Rachel’d decided to have a formal wedding. Blip opened the door quickly.

“Hey man,” he said by way of greeting and ushered Mike into the house with an odd grin on his face.

“Hey,” Mike replied and followed Blip into the kitchen.

The other other man opened the fridge and turned to him. “Beer? Ginny’ll probably be a few more minutes.”

“Naw, I’m good,” Mike said and watched as Blip hid a grin behind the beer he’d pulled out for himself. “What’s with the face?”

“What face?”

“The cat that ate the canary face you’ve got going there.”

“Oh, you’ll find out…” Blip said and no sooner had the last syllable come out of his mouth that the distinct click of heels on tile echoed from the direction of the master bedroom.

Mike turned in time to see Ginny Baker, his teammate, the first woman in major league baseball standing there looking…resplendent was the only word that came to mind.

“Oh…my…God,” he mumbled only loud enough for Blip to hear and stood, staring, probably for longer than what would be considered appropriate.

The dress was a deep emerald, floor length, and two pieces if the barest hint of caramel skin between the silk skirt and sparkly lace overlaid tank style top (that showed her toned arms and perfect shoulders) was any indication. When she moved toward him a thigh high slit in the skirt revealed part of a long, toned leg.

Ginny looked nervous and slid her palms over the silk. “It’s ok?”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her and words were starting to fail him. “You look – stunning.”

She smiled and let her eyes wander over his tuxedo. “You don’t clean up to bad yourself, Old Man.”

For a long while they just stared at each other, eyes drinking each other in, until Blip (or Evelyn) cleared their throat. “You better get moving or else you’ll miss the ceremony.”

 

* * *

 

As predicted they arrived at the hotel with fifteen minutes to spare, Mike valet parked the Mercedes SUV he’d borrowed from one of his lots (“Sports cars and formal dresses…bad combo”) and they walked into the lobby which was decked out in holiday trimmings. Wreaths and twinkle lights and Christmas Trees were everywhere.

Ginny paused a second to take it in before Mike looped his arm through hers, guiding her gently toward the reception halls. They got a few looks as they walked through the space, using the “Patrick/Dennis” signs to find the right ballroom. Mostly Mike just smiled at those who gawked, irrationally thrilled to be seen with her.

Even if it would be on Twitter in five minutes.

They arrived outside the right hall exactly five minutes before the wedding was set to start and Mike easily found his name card on the table outside, it was one of only a half dozen left unclaimed.

“Table twelve,” he said and waved the card at Ginny who had been surprisingly silent. “Hope that’s near the bar.”

She didn’t respond, instead staring into the room with a look of awe on her face. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“Well,” he said with a grin. “Let’s get the full view.”

And he led her into the enormous hall with a wave of his arm The wall opposite the doors was nothing but windows, floor to ceiling looking out onto the water, to the right was the large dance floor with a lighted arch at one end and behind that the head table. Similar to the lobby everything was covered in white lights and tulle, with beautiful red poinsettias placed strategically throughout the room, there were other red accents everywhere. From the hurricane vases on the tables to the sashes on the chairs. It gave an overall feeling of warmth and romanticism.

It was beautiful.

Once again, Mike caught her elbow and led her to the left where their table (and the bar) were located.

It was easy enough to find their chairs, the only two left and Mike nodded at the other table occupants as they sat, none of whom he recognized, most of them with shocked looks on their faces. Clearly, they recognized them.

He sarcastically grinned back.

Not more than three minutes after they sat the lights dimmed slightly before coming back up to announce the start of the festivities. Realizing she was not positioned correctly to see the actual ceremony, Ginny pushed her chair out and back, incidentally closer to Mike, angling herself toward the arch. He looked at her, then straightened his own chair so they were side by side and Mike casually put his arm on the back of her chair, fingers dangerously close to her exposed shoulder.

Mike looked at Ginny, who was still taking in the room, and followed her gaze around, observing the people in attendance, some of which he recognized. As his gaze wandered and skipped around the room, Mike quickly he came to the realization that, somehow, he had gotten lucky enough to have the most beautiful woman in the room with him.

Ginny’s natural beauty had not escaped him, even if Mike had initially couched it in the “second prettiest teammate” comment when they’d first met. But the woman sitting next to him dressed to kill looked…ethereal.

Not that he was biased but she was a vision in emerald and lace. A warm sensation alighted in his chest.

Before he could start to let his thoughts wander into questionable territory, the wedding march started and in walked Rachel (somehow, he’d missed David taking his place at the arch along with several groomsmen and the bridesmaids), looking lovely in an off white strapless gown. For just a brief second, his heart ached for what he had missed, what he had thrown away because for him, baseball always came first.

The internal thoughts must have shown because suddenly Ginny’s warm hand was on his leg, right above his knee, squeezing gently but she wasn’t looking at him. Mike smiled and covered her hand with his own, taking strength from her presence. The urge to lift her hand and kiss it was overwhelming but somehow he restrained himself.

Thankfully the actual ceremony was brief and before he knew it they were being announced as “Mr and Mrs”.

That’s when Mike finally relaxed and released her hand, though Ginny was slow removing hers. They sat for several minutes’ side-by-side, simply enjoying the closeness.

“So,” she said while pulling her chair back to the table and eyeing the now-open bar. “Drinks?”

“Oh yeah,” he said and she stood quickly, the silk of her dress swooshing around her.

“Beer?”

“I can get our drinks,” he said, sounding vaguely offended.

“And yet, here I am, already standing and willing to walk over there.”

“Beer, most expensive one they’ve got.”

Ginny nodded and stepped away, heading toward the large bar. Mike watched amused as several people did double takes upon realizing who she was and that she was there, at Rachel Patrick’s wedding.

“You’re Mike Lawson.” The man sitting to his left finally said.

“Yep,” he replied, his eyes flitting to Ginny who was talking animatedly with the bartender.

The other man’s eyes followed Mike’s gaze and they watched Ginny move smoothly through the crowd, holding two beers.

“And that’s…”

“Yep,” he replied again.

“Cool,” the man said and Mike smiled a little at the awe on his face. “Could I get a picture?”

Mike was about to respond in the negative when Ginny set a green bottle down in front of him and said, “Sure!”

Mike groaned, this was how it started, you let one guy take a pic and then everyone wants one. Despite his reservation, he leaned back into Ginny who popped her head over his shoulder, the picture requestor next to Mike, who took a quick selfie.

“Thanks! My kids a huge fan.”

“Welcome…” Mike responded but quickly realized the guy was talking to Ginny. _Seriously?_

“You’re welcome,” she responded and then laughed lowly to Mike, “Ouch.”

Picking up the beer he took a long drink. “Maybe bringing you wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.”

“Oh, yes it was.”

He grumbled into his beer and she laughed.

After a few minutes he engaged picture guy in conversation. His name was Steve and was work friends of David’s at the hospital. It seemed that Rachel put them at a table that would be the least uncomfortable; with strangers who knew little, if anything, about his relationship with Rachel aside from “ex-husband”.

He was thankful for that.

Ginny had gotten involved in conversation with the woman seated next to her who was asking her about how this whole “baseball” thing got started for her.

He listened with rapt attention as she described her first minor league game with her Dad, noting the wistful expression on her face. Mike knew the basics, Ginnys Dad had gotten her into baseball, had died in a car accident shortly after the Padres scout approached her. And…that was it actually, it was a subject that didn’t come up often in their evening conversations.

Listening to her talk about it brought Mike a little clarity about why she tried so damn hard and where her no quit attitude had come from. Most of the rest of the table was listening as closely as he was and a well of pride flared in his chest. She was HIS rookie and dammit he was proud of what she’d accomplished.

By the time she finished, the first course was being served and they all dug into the salad.

Without even speaking, Mike dropped his cherry tomatoes on her plate; she graced him with a wide smile in thanks. When the soup came and Mike frowned, she ate hers and then his as well along with a roll.

By now they were starting to get stares from others at the table.

The main course was plated, typical chicken or steak situation and once she realized as the other tables were being served that there had been an option, Ginny hissed at him, “You chose for me, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Trust me, I know your aversion to not being able to specify how you want the steak cooked so its chicken all the way.”

She appeared placated and nodded at her beer, which was empty. “Your turn.”

Without complaint he got up and wandered over to the bar, quickly grabbing two more Heinekens and returning just as their chicken was set at their places.

Ginny looked impressed at the amount of food on her plate and Mike almost, _almost¸_ bet her she wouldn’t eat it all, but quickly realized that would be a foolish bet.

Fifteen minutes later he was congratulating himself on restraining himself as she polished off the last bites from the white china plate.

“Wow, that was good,” she said and eyed what remained on his own plate.

“No,” he said firmly.

She continued to stare at the plate, then him.

“I said no, Baker.”

The rest of the table was now fully staring at them with varying expressions of awe and amusement.

“Get real; you’re not going to eat the asparagus, Lawson.”

“How do you know?” he asked indignantly.

“Seriously? End of year banquet I watched you carefully pick every last tiny piece of them out of the vegetable medley. Hand ‘em over.”

Defeated, he slid his plate and placed the half dozen stalks on hers, which she easily finished off, all while smiling at him triumphantly, then just for good measure, she polished off another roll.

Steve smiled and commented, “You must have one hell of a metabolism.”

Shrugging she said, “Work hard, eat hard.”

The women at the table did not look as amused as the men.

The bridal party quickly moved through speeches (and Ginny and Mike another round of beers) before the DJ started up with the music. As the sounds of a slow dance worked through the speakers and Rachel and David stepped onto the dance floor, Mike got up and politely excused himself to the bathroom. Ginny could see he was rattled a little by this part of the evening and watched him go with a sad expression.

Once the dance was over, Mike slipped back into his seat silently.

“You ok?” she asked as he sat back next to her.

“Yeah, fine.”

He wasn’t, and Ginny could tell; eyeing the balcony on the other side of the room, she tapped his leg and inclined her head toward it.

“Care to join me for a walk?”

Following her gaze, he nodded and stood, holding out a hand to her. Smiling, Ginny took the hand and let him lead her first to the bar where they grabbed two more beers, then across the back wall of the hall toward the now-open door walls.

There was a cool, salty breeze coming off the ocean and they walked to the railing, standing quietly, drinking the beers. The rest of the balcony was surprisingly empty.

Ginny eyed the speed with which Mike’s beer was disappearing and said into the breeze, “You know I don’t have a driver’s license, right?”

“I do, I’m good.”

She nodded and continued to drink, knowing he would talk when he was ready. Which came faster than she expected.

“I couldn’t watch them,” he said and leaned his forearms on the railing. “Rachel and David…the first dance.” She remained silent. “It’s ridiculous, I know…I watched them get married.”

Ginny placed a free hand on his forearm, letting her fingers stroke the inside of his wrist, it was dangerously intimate but she didn’t care, he needed the reassurance. “It’s not ridiculous.”

Giving her a side smile, Mike flipped his hand over and her fingers slid up until they were wound with his.

“We can leave you know,” she said and squeezed his hand.

Mike grinned and eyed her up and down. “And waste that dress, I think not.”

“I do look good in the dress,” she said and laughed.

He grinned at her.

They finished the beers and watched the water for some time in comfortable silence. As Mike stared out onto the ocean he realized that the evening had gone far better than he anticipated, he’d expected to be more emotional about the situation. Aside from the first dance he couldn’t watch, it hadn’t been as gut wrenching as he’d thought. A glance over at Ginny, who was staring out at the water, had him thinking it was the company he was with that made the entire situation more tolerable. Mike wasn’t completely out of touch with his feelings, there was something simmering between them; he’d felt a spark with that first conversation on the field and their connection had only grown since then. It was equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. Some days he felt like an old man, but she frequently made him feel so much younger than he was; her laughter could pull him out of a self-induced funk more often than not.

After a while they walked back into the main area, handing the empty bottles to a waiter who wandered by. Somehow, they had stayed out long enough that the evening had officially moved past most of the typical “wedding” activities, and soft, slow music was playing.

The bride and groom were now making their way through the room, talking to their guests; Mike was not looking forward to this part. And then Ginny leaned over and excused herself to the restroom, leaving him alone standing near their table as Rachel made her way closer. He would have sworn she was purposely aiming for him, leaving David behind.

When her eyes locked with his, Mike knew he was right and sighed.

Once at their table, Rachel politely spoke to the guests as a whole, thanking them, making small talk, all the while standing right next to him.

“Can we talk, Mike?” she asked and nudged his arm with hers.

“Sure,” he said but didn’t actually move.

“Privately.”

“Yeah, of course,” he said and guided Rachel toward a quiet corner, remaining silent.

Rachel shifted a little before saying, “I’m glad you came.”

“I’m glad you had an open bar,” he said in a sarcastic tone.

“Mike…”

He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry. Congratulations, you seem happy.”

“I am happy.”

“Good. Nice wedding, by the way, you look lovely.”

“Thank you.”

There was a painful silence then Rachel reached out and touched his arm, Mike resisted the urge to pull away from her.

“I…” she started. “I want you to be happy too, Mike. I still care about you, even if we aren’t married anymore. I’d like to think we can be friends.”

“It might be best if we…aren’t,” he said with a small shrug. “You’re married, I need to move on, really let go. At least for a while it might be best if we didn’t…see or talk to each other.”

Rachel’s face fell. “If that’s what you want.”

“It’s not what I want, Rachel. I think part of me will always love you, but it’s what I need to do for my own peace of mind.”

“I understand,” she said a little sadly and again they stood in silence.

“The women’s bathroom is something else,” Ginny’s voice rang out as she approached them, standing close to Mike and nodding politely at Rachel. “Rachel, congratulations.”

Mike watched as Rachel’s eyes took in the pitcher, dressed to kill and smiling widely (though he could see the ice in Ginny’s eyes directed at his ex-wife) and his former wife’s face was nothing short of shocked. But, to her credit, she recovered quickly.

“Um, thank you. I didn’t realize you were coming, Ginny.”

“And yet, here I am.” Again with the wide smile.

Rachel looked uncomfortable. “Well, enjoy yourselves, I need to finish the rounds.”

With an awkward smile, Rachel stepped away and back to David who was now at their table, talking to his coworkers.

“Nice timing, rookie,” he whispered into her ear as they continued to stand in the corner.

“Well, to be fair I was standing in the doorway a solid two minutes before that, but as soon as I saw your ‘I am over this’ face I swooped in. You’re welcome.”

Mike stared at her in awe.

Ginny nodded toward the bar. “Drink?”

Shaking his head, he nodded at the dance floor which was half full with couples. “Dance?”

“I thought you didn’t dance,” she commented even as she let him lead her toward the floor, her hand safely in his.

“Not to that noise you call music. But I am capable.”

“Really?” she asked as they got to the floor and Mike made a show of swinging her around before pulling her body into his – one hand holding hers near his chest, the other low on her back, his fingers just at the bottom of the fabric of the top of her dress. Her free hand made its way to his shoulder, arm snaking around his back, resting there gently.

Seamlessly they moved together, Mike swaying them to the beat of the song she didn’t recognize; it was typical slow wedding music. There hadn’t been many occasions for her to go to a wedding.

After a few minutes of dancing, Ginny leaned into his ear, their cheeks just brushing. “What do you know, Mike Lawson can dance.”

“I think calling what we are doing dancing might be a stretch,” he all but whispered back. Not that he cared one bit, the feel of her body pressed against him was doing fuzzy, incredible, things to his head.

Brazenly, he moved his fingers lower, letting them ghost over the skin of her waist exposed by the nature of the two-piece dress; she shuttered and sucked in a breath at the contact and Mike held on a little tighter.

Ginny wrapped her arm around his neck and let her short fingernails scrape across the nape of his neck. It was Mike’s turn to shudder.

“You realize people can see us, right?” she asked quietly near his ear as her eyes scanned the crowd, really there were only a handful of people who were watching them.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Mike….”

“We aren’t doing anything wrong, Ginny. Just dancing.”

They both knew that wasn’t entirely true, dancing was just an excuse to be close to each other, to touch each other acceptably in a public place. To someone watching them it looked harmless, pitcher and catcher enjoying a dance, but they knew better, it was becoming so much more with each touch, with every beat of music.

The song came to an end but neither wanted to break apart, so they danced through two more slow songs before a marginally faster song (one she’d just heard on the radio that day) came through the speakers and Ginny started to pull away.

“Nuh uh, Rookie. I know this one.”

While previously they had been swaying, now Mike let his hips guide her backwards, then toward him again, spinning them gently in circles in time to the music.

 _You know just what to say_  
Shit that scares me, I should just walk away  
But I can’t move my feet  
The more that I know you, the more I want to  
Something inside me’s changed  
I was so much younger yesterday

 _I didn’t know that I was starving till I tasted you_  
Don’t need the butterflies when you give me the whole damn zoo  
By the way, by the way you do things to my body  
I didn’t know that I was starving till I tasted you

_By the way, by the way you do things to my body  
I didn’t know that I was starving till I tasted you_

As the song hit the crescendo to the chorus, Mike flung her away from him, holding onto one of her hands and as she boomeranged back toward him, Ginny let out a peal of laughter as he stepped sideways and spun her around, the dress billowing out, exposing long lean legs. Their moves were easy, fluid, a by-product of their on-field connection.

When he pulled her back into him, Ginny was still laughing but managed to get out, “Look out, Lawson’s got moves.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed louder.

They finished out the rest of the song, Mike leading and spinning her one more time before they moved off the dance floor as the song changed, hands clasped once again.

Now it was her turn to lead back to the bar, this time for water.

“I didn’t know you had that in you, Old Man,” she said between sips.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” he said with a grin.

“Noted.”

“Have I mentioned how…fantastic you look in that dress?” he asked and set his water down on the bar top.

She pretended to think about it. “I don’t think so.”

Mike leaned in and whispered in her ear, “You are, by far, the most beautiful woman in this room. Maybe the county.”

Ginny blushed at the sultry tone of his voice and felt a warm rush over her entire body.

“Well,” he said and looked at his watch. “We’ve been here four hours. Enough fun for you?”

“It’s your call, Lawson. I’m up for whatever you want to do.”

Mike glanced out the windows, back at her, said, “C’mon.” And led them out of the ballroom, down a long hall then a set of all glass stairs and out a set of French doors.

San Diego bay was maybe 100 yards from them.

Looking at her, he bent down and pulled off his shoes and socks, sticking the latter inside his shoes; Ginny quickly followed suit, slipping off her sandals (moaning a bit in relief as she did) and setting them next to his.

Once again, he took her hand and led them onto the beach, close to the water but not so close their feet would get wet. It was unseasonably warm that night but starting to cool off and for a second Mike felt bad about dragging her near the beach in 60-degree weather. Until she held his hand tighter and pressed her side into his as they strolled slowly along the beach, letting her free hand cross her body and grip his bicep.

It always surprised her how long they could go in comfortable silence, neither of them feeling the need to fill the empty space with meaningless words. They were simply content to be with each other.

“It was a lovely wedding,” she said offhand. “Not one I would have wanted I don’t think, but nice.”

That brought Mike up short and Ginny was forced to stop with him. “And what kind of wedding would Ginny Baker want?”

“Never put any thought into it.”

“Really?”

Ginny shrugged. “Nope. I mean…all my time as a kid was taken up by baseball. Like…every second of every day. I didn’t go to dances, or have real friends or boyfriends for that matter. If I wanted to make it to the majors I had to work ten times harder than everyone else.”

“Biology,” he mimicked back to her.

“Yeah,” she laughed.

“Must’ve been lonely.” Mike understood lonely and suddenly their easy connection made more sense to him. They were similar people, moreso than he would have expected. Driven, looking for connections, maybe a little lonely even while surrounded by people.

“It was but…” she shrugged and looked up at the sky, the moon was nearly full and with the cloudless sky, very bright. “You get used to it.”

Then she shivered a little and immediately Mike shrugged out of his jacket, placing it gently on her shoulders. A soft smile graced her face, and they were so close, the temptation to lean in and kiss her was…overwhelming. And while her face told him she would be more than ok with that, Mike resisted, instead stepping back and holding her hand again. They had pushed against that line in the sand that said they needed to remain teammates more than enough tonight.

“Thanks,” she said and pulled the suitcoat around her tighter.

He nodded and they went back to watching the ocean for a bit until the cool night air started to get to Mike and he tugged her hand back toward the reception hall.

“Ready to go?” he asked as they walked slowly.

“Like I said, whatever you want to do.”

“I think I’m done.”

“Did you get any closure?” she asked while digging toes into the sand as they went.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’m not sure if I’m still hung up on Rachel or if it’s…the end of my career and marriage are happening so damn close to each other and I was trying to hang onto one.” He sighed. “The marriage seemed easier, I guess.”

“Your career isn’t over yet, old man.”

“I’ve got one more good year in me, Rookie.”

“Not a rookie anymore,” she said proudly.

“Yeah, too bad. You’re still _my_ rookie, Rookie.”

Quickly they slipped their shoes back on and Mike led her back through the hall to the valet stand, where the SUV appeared in a matter of moments. Suddenly the end of the night was coming far too quickly for either of them.

With his coat still wrapped around her and breathing in his oh, so very Mike Lawson scent, Ginny watched the miles go by out the passenger window.

To her surprise, Mike parked in the visitor area of the hotel once they arrived and accompanied her up to her room.

“You didn’t have to walk me home, you know,” she said while pulling out her keycard from a previously unseen pocket of her skirt, how had he not noticed that? Or wondered where she put her phone?

“Yeah, well, what kind of date would I be if I didn’t see you safely to the door.”

“This was a date?” she asked with a raised eyebrow and amused smile. “I don’t recall you paying for dinner.”

“Oh, I’m pretty damn sure I paid for at least some of that wedding, at least secondhand anyway.”

Ginny laughed lightly at the strained expression on his face.

“Well, thank you for a lovely evening. I had fun,” she said and leaned over, kissing his cheek gently, though lingering a little longer than necessary.

When she pulled back, Mike cleared his throat. “Thank you for coming. You made the whole thing far more enjoyable, you have no idea.”

“You’re very welcome.”

For a moment they stared at each other, both unsure what to do, it seemed like the evening had subtly changed something between them.

“We should do this again, sometime,” he said quietly, almost nervously. This was dangerous, what he was doing, what he was asking, he didn’t care.

“Maybe we should,” she responded and opened her door, slipping in before saying, “Goodnight, Mike,” and closing the door behind her.

He grinned the whole way back to the car.

 

* * *

 

Six weeks after the wedding, on the eve of spring training, Mike received an email to his personal account from Rachel. He assumed it was some kind of thank you for the gift he’d sent after the wedding since the subject line was “For you”.

The entire body of the email was one line:

_You deserve to be happy too, Mike._

There were two attachments, both picture files. Opening the first, Mike damn near pulled back from the laptop when a photo of him and Ginny dancing filled the screen.

She was mid swing, an arm’s length away from picture him, smiling so widely it took his breath away, he was grinning at her equally and Mike honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled like that – with such open joy and happiness.

The second picture, Ginny was pulled in close to him, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist, Ginny was smiling softly over his shoulder and God, he was looking at her profile like she hung the world.

Without much thought, Mike closed the laptop, got up from his desk, grabbed his car keys and headed out the door. Rachel was right, he deserved to be happy and Mike was done waiting, done pretending, done caring about what other people thought. They'd spoken on the phone, but nothing else since that night, he knew why, they were both a little scared of what if's. 

Screw it.

As long as Ginny would have him, he was all in. Starting now.

END

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't quite hit EVERY note but came close, I think. Enjoy!


End file.
